"Barty Crouch was a stiff, upright, elderly man, dressed in an impeccably crisp suit and tie. The parting in his short grey hair was almost unnaturally straight and his narrow toothbrush moustache looked as though he trimmed it using a slide-rule. His shoes were very highly polished."

First Wizarding War

During the downfall of the Death Eaters in the First Wizarding War, he convicted several of them to life imprisonment in Azkaban, including Sirius Black, who was sent to Azkaban without trial.[8] He authorised Aurors to use the Unforgivable Curses on their opponents if necessary, and went under the principles of "kill rather than capture" and "attack first, ask questions later".[8] Crouch oversaw a trial where he had the Death Eater Igor Karkaroff set free in exchange for the names of several other Death Eaters, including Augustus Rookwood.[7] He also oversaw the trial of Ludo Bagman, but much to Crouch's fury, the Council cleared Bagman of all charges, and even applauded for his previous achievements in a Quidditch match, though it should be noted that Bagman was merely an unknowing dupe rather than an actual Death Eater.[7] Although Crouch's tactics were cruel, most people believed that he was doing the right thing, as there would be no way to defeat Lord Voldemort otherwise. Many people predicted that Crouch would be the next Minister for Magic, since Albus Dumbledore refused the position multiple times.[8]

However, after Lord Voldemort's fall, Crouch got news that his own son had helped drive two Aurors - Alice and Frank Longbottom - insane through use of the Cruciatus Curse alongside with the three Lestrange Death Eaters, trying to learn where their master was in hiding.[7] A trial being the closest to fatherly affection he can give, Crouch did not make any difference for it despite his son being among the convicts.[7] Ignoring his son and wife's pleas, as well as the apparently not completely certain evidence that his son was guilty in the first place (it was later stated that there was some ambiguity about whether his son had taken part in the torture or merely been in the wrong place at the wrong time), he sentenced all four Death Eaters to Azkaban for life, while claiming that he has no son; his decision was met with the roaring approval of the court.[7]

Hiding his son

Shortly after the imprisonment, the Crouch couple was permitted a deathbed visit due to Crouch's high status as a Ministry official. Mrs. Crouch's health was failing at the time due to the stress, and begged her husband to rescue their son from prison as one last favour, to which he agreed out of love for her. The two took advantage of the deathbed visit by using Polyjuice Potion to switch Barty Jr. and Mrs. Crouch, in case any of the prisoners were watching from their cells, and then Barty Sr. smuggled his son out of Azkaban.[9] Mrs. Crouch died shortly afterwards, posing as her son until the end, and due to Barty never went to retrieve her body in fear of having the breakout exposed, staged her death and held a quiet, private funeral with an empty grave.[9]

According to Crouch Jr., his father only saved him as a favour for his wife, and that Crouch Sr. himself "loved her as he never loved [his son]", though due to Crouch Jr's mental instability and biased hatred for his father at the time, it is possible that Barty Sr loved his son more than it appears, as he was able to sacrifice his wife into spending her last days in a place like Azkaban for their son's sake, and risk his own position in the Ministry despite his hatred for the Dark Arts and all who practice them.[9]

Crouch took his real son home, having his house-elfWinky to nurse the boy back to health. After that, Crouch searched long and hard for methods to restrain his son from returning to Lord Voldemort, and was eventually forced to utilise the Imperius Curse to keep Barty Jr. under house arrest for twelve years, and his visual body hidden under an Invisibility cloak.[9] He then assigned Winky to become the boy's keeper and carer. Winky would try to persuade her elder master to award his son for his good behaviour, despite it all being a byproduct of the subjugation.[9]

Because of the public reaction after his "son" died, with the ambiguity of the imprisonment starting to overtake the rash decision of the trial, not to mention that people starting to take pity on Crouch Jr. for his father's neglect, Crouch Sr. lost his popularity and chance to become Minister for Magic and was shunted sideways to the Department of International Magical Cooperation, with Cornelius Fudge succeeding Millicent Bagnold as Minister instead.[9]

Discovery and aftermath

At some point while serving as Department Head, a Ministry worker named Bertha Jorkins called at the Crouch home with Ministry paperwork.[9] Crouch was out, but Bertha Winky talking to Barty Crouch Jr.[9] She heard enough to guess that it was Crouch Jr. hiding under an Invisibility cloak.[9]

Upon returning home, Crouch was confronted by Bertha. Crouch took drastic measures by casting an extremely powerful Memory Charm on her, which accidentally caused Bertha some brain damage, although it was not noticeable except for a new tendency of forgetfulness.[9] Bertha went to work for Ludo Bagman at the Department of Magical Games and Sports.[5]

Quidditch World Cup

Some time later, Winky convinced (after months of efforts) Crouch to take her and Barty to the Quidditch World Cup final, which was being held in England that year, stating that it was what his wife would have wanted.[9] Crouch remained in his tent while Winky took Barty, hidden under an Invisibility cloak, up to a top box.[9] She covered her eyes for the duration of the match because she was so afraid of heights.[9] Barty, however, had awoken from the Imperius Curse and proceeded to steal Harry Potter's wand from his pocket, as Harry was sitting right in front of the invisible Barty.[7] He later used Harry's wand to cast Morsmordre.[10]

Crouch saw the effect the spell had - the Dark Mark was hovering overhead - and hurried to the place where it had just been cast.[10] It was there that he found Harry, Ron and Hermione, as well as Winky in the bushes nearby with Harry's wand.[10] Crouch also found his invisible son on the ground, unconscious.[9] After Harry's wand was determined to be the culprit, Crouch publicly dismissed Winky (ostensibly for disgracing him,[10] but in reality for failing to supervise his son).[7] After the witnesses to Winky's dismissal left, Crouch recast the Imperius Curse on Barty and returned home.[7]

Meanwhile, Lord Voldemort had found and tortured Bertha Jorkins into telling him vital information about the present state of the Ministry, including the fact that Barty was alive and still loyal to the Dark Lord.[7]Wormtail and Voldemort travelled to the Crouch home, placed the Imperius Curse on Crouch himself and removed the one placed on Barty Jr.[7]

The Triwizard Tournament and death

Crouch was ordered to go to work and do all his usual jobs as if nothing had happened. This included becoming one of the judges in the Triwizard Tournament, which he, as the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, had helped plan out. When Crouch, along with Ludo Bagman, came to Hogwarts, Crouch was unable to get as much applause as Bagman did, probably partly because he was not a very pleasant-looking man. While this was happening, Crouch's son was also in Hogwarts, impersonating Alastor Moody and plotting to help his master rise to power. Crouch showed no sign of surprise, exhaustion or any emotion at all when the name of Harry Potter came from the Goblet of Fire, as a part of Voldemort's plan. Presumably due to Voldemort's influence, Crouch insisted that any person whose name came out of the Goblet had to compete in the tournament.

"Yes. After a while he began to fight the Imperius Curse just as I had done. There were periods when he knew what was happening. My master decided it was no longer safe for my father to leave the house. He forced him to send letters to the Ministry instead. He made him write and say he was ill. But Wormtail neglected his duty. He was not watchful enough. My father escaped. My master guessed that he was heading for Hogwarts. My father was going to tell Dumbledore everything, to confess. He was going to admit that he had smuggled me from Azkaban."

A short time later, however, however, Crouch started to resist the Imperius Curse, just like his son had done during his time under Crouch's control. Voldemort, fearing that people would become suspicious, ordered him to stay home and write letters, saying he was sick, with his duties as a Tournament judge being primarily carried out by Percy Weasley. This brought suspicion to some people, such as Sirius Black, who knew that Barty would never take a day off work simply because of illness.

Eventually Crouch broke free of the curse, and due to Wormtail's neglect, managed to escape and fled towards Hogwarts to warn Dumbledore about Voldemort's plans. Exhausted and slightly mad from the effects of Voldemort's mind-controlling spells, he staggered through the Forbidden Forest onto the Hogwarts grounds, eventually coming across Harry and Viktor Krum. Crouch's resisting of Voldemort's spells caused him to continuously talk to a nearby tree, thinking it was his assistant "Weatherby" and to think his wife and son were still alive and well. In a short sane state, Crouch asked to speak to Dumbledore, claiming that it was "all his fault". While Harry went to get him, Barty Jr. arrived (as Alastor Moody) and stunned Krum. Barty Jr. killed his father and transfigured the corpse into a bone, burying it in Rubeus Hagrid's garden.

Barty Crouch, Jr. was later captured and admitted, under the influence of Veritaserum, to having murdered his father, among the other facts of the breakout and Voldemort's plan. Soon afterwards, he was subjected to the Dementor's Kiss.

Having devoted his entire life to eradicating the dark forces, Crouch is well known for despising the dark arts and those who practice them, but his methods used are just as brutal and cruel as those he worked to prosecute, as he legalised the usages of the Unforgivable Curses and went under the principles of kill rather than capture, attack first and ask questions later, and imprison many without trials. To this end, he was working his way up to becoming the Minister of Magic at the time, and could not have anything that would tarnish his reputation, to the point of dismissing and imprisoning his son in order to make it clear that he has nothing to do with anyone who is even remotely suspected of being connected to the Dark Arts. He would later dismiss his devoted House-elf just for being at the wrong place at the wrong time (though the true reason is he deemed her unreliable).

Despite his ruthlessness, he was capable of true love, as he agreed to his wife's dying request of saving their son from prison, despite his high position, reputation and general dislike for the Dark Arts, and was willing use the Imperius Curse to restrain his son, breaking the laws he was so adamant in enforcing. The reason he was seen as an unloving workaholic is due to him placing his public image and career over his family, having set his entire life into following rules and eradicating dark forces, and would spend little to no time on his family life; Sirius Black found it weird when Crouch was calling in sick, as the Barty he (and the public) knew would never miss a day of work for any simple reason such as sickness. This tough love for his family made his own son see it as neglect, leaving a negative impact on the young man's perception and choices.

Physical appearance

Bartemius Crouch at the Hogwarts Halloween feast

Crouch had short grey hair with a neat parting, which was described as "almost unnaturally straight", and a narrow toothbrush moustache. While disguised as a muggle for the World Quidditch Cup, he wore a black suit and highly polished shoes, making him look like a businessman, to the point that Harry described that even Vernon Dursley would not be able to tell the difference.[5]. Due to this first impression, Harry thought Crouch looked weird in wizarding robes. In certain lights, such as in semi-darkness, he took on a skull-like appearance.[11]

Dark Arts: Despite his loathing for the dark arts and those who practice them, Crouch was able to cast an Imperius Curse powerful enough that even an extremely adept caster of the spell such as his son could only resist after twelve years.

Willpower: Crouch able to shrug off the Imperius Curse cast on him by Lord Voldemort after a much shorter span of time than the one he did on his son, showing that he has a very strong sense of self. However, Voldemort was in a weakened form at the time, and Crouch's resistance to the curse had led to him becoming delirious and maddened.

Relationships

Wife and son

Bartemius did not pay enough attention to his son, until the day Crouch Jr. was caught in the company of three Death Eaters after the torture of Alice and Frank Longbottom. Crouch Sr. gave his son little more than the courtesy of a trial, something he did not always give other suspects, and oversaw it personally. In the end, Crouch Sr. merely used the trial to publicly disown his son, and showed no mercy as he sent him to Azkaban. However, he fulfilled his wife's dying wish and smuggled their son back out, keeping him hidden at home under the Imperius Curse for several years. This proved Crouch's undoing, as Lord Voldemort learned of the whereabouts of his servant and freed him, turning the tables on Crouch Sr. by Imperiusing him instead. Although Crouch eventually escaped, he was murdered by his own son when he attempted to warn Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore of what had happened.

His son felt like Barty Sr. loved his wife more than he had ever loved his son, but this was only the truth in the son's eyes and not necessarily the accurate truth. However, Barty Sr. seemed to put his public image first, as despite his son's pleas, he still sentenced him to Azkaban for life. Dumbledore lets on there was generally some doubt if Barty Jr. had been guilty or just in the wrong place at the wrong time, but this was only Dumbledore's point of view while he may not have known all the evidence. However, the love for his wife and son allowed Barty Sr. to be persuaded by her dying wish to smuggle their son out of prison, in exchange of her.

All of Crouch Sr.'s neglect and ruthlessness to imprison his own son brought a negative impact on Crouch Jr.'s psyche, leading the boy to genuinely despise his father. Barty Jr. would later comment that Crouch Sr. was disappointing as a father, that he suffered the indignity of being named after that father, and that he greatly enjoyed killing his father.

Winky

Winky falling into despair.

Winky the house-elf is an extremely devoted servant of Barty Crouch Sr.. She is very willing to help her master take care of his renegade son, and even obeyed his orders to stay on the Quidditch World Cup's top box, despite her acrophobia. Her loyalty may surpass the mere magic-bound duty of an average house-elf.

Barty, in turn, treated Winky with no respect, and considered her nothing more than a slave. When she failed to restrain Barty Jr., Barty Sr. dismissed her, and thought of her as nothing as more than "something filthy contaminating his over-shined shoes" when she was screaming and begging for mercy at his feet. Winky was devastated by this dismissal, considered it a disgrace to her mother and grandmother, and this devastation worsened when she heard that Crouch was murdered by his own son.

Percy Weasley

Percy Weasley worked under Crouch for thirteen months, and was absolutely obsessed with him; indeed, Percy's brother Ronald joked in August of 1994 that he should be expecting their engagement any day.[12] Crouch, however, cannot remember Percy's name; as a running gag, he referred his protege as "Weatherby".

Bertha Jorkins

Little is known of Crouch's relation toward Jorkins, although after her disappearance he spent some time convincing co-worker Ludovic Bagman to send someone out to look for her.[5] Crouch's employee Percy Weasley stated that Crouch appeared to be rather fond of Bertha,[12] though when Bertha discovered Crouch's secret he was forced to cast a brain-damaging Memory Charm on her.

Ludo Bagman

Barty had a rather negative relationship with Ludo Bagman, who was a polar contrast in personality with Crouch himself. Crouch himself was serious and strictly adhered to rules, while Bagman took everything lightly and disregard rules from time to time. To this end, Crouch once tried to have Bagman sentenced to Azkaban for unwittingly giving information to Death Eaters despite the circumstances, and was infuriated when the entire court voted for Bagman's acquittal.

Etymology

The name Bartemius originates from the Biblical name Bartimaeus, who was permanently blind all his life, until Jesus healed him. Reasons for naming after a blind man may be due to the fact Bartemius was quite oblivious to his family until his position of authority lowered.

Media

Behind the scenes

In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Crouch is portrayed as a somewhat more cheerful character and a generally more likeable man. He congratulates Harry after the latter successfully completes the Second Task, but Barty, in the guise of Moody, interrupts their heartful conversation, asking whether Crouch was trying to get Harry into a summer internship at the Ministry. At this point, Crouch sees Moody twitch like Barty Jr, and actually seems to suspect that Moody is actually his son (having apparently played no part in his escape from Azkaban). Instead of arriving in Hogwarts driven half-insane and subsequently disappearing, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid later find Crouch dead in the Forbidden Forest.

Also in the film, Dumbledore said that it destroyed Crouch to send his son to Azkaban. In the book, however, he seemed fully willing to do it and had no regrets about it. But the truth about the accurate case on that was not revealed. Also, the film version had no mention of Crouch's or the mother's part in his son's escape from Azkaban.

In the film of The Goblet of Fire, Crouch was portrayed by Roger Lloyd-Pack who is best known for his roles as Trigger in Only Fools and Horses and Owen Newitt in the Vicar of Dibley. Lloyd Pack also appears in the revamped Doctor Who series episodes Rise of the Cybermen and Age of Steel along with David Tennant (who plays Barty Crouch Jr. in the Goblet of Fire film). In the latter appearance, the respective actors' roles are reversed however, with Tennant playing the main hero and Lloyd Pack playing a villain. Lloyd-Pack played John Lumic (ambitious leader of Cybus industries, formed his own version of the Cybermen) while Tennant played the Doctor

In the novel, Crouch constantly refers to Percy Weasley as "Weatherby". This is very similar to Roger Lloyd-Pack's Only Fools and Horses character Trigger, who constantly refers to Rodney as "Dave". This is not seen in the film, as Percy was cut.

Due to Percy's omission, Crouch Sr. took over the roles Percy had in the book of attending the Yule Ball and Second Task for the film. In the book, Crouch Sr. had disappeared due to a supposed "illness", which was actually him being placed under the Imperius Curse by Lord Voldemort and had to be hidden away due to signs of Crouch Sr. being able to resist it. It was through falsified letters that Percy took over the responsibilities in Mr. Crouch's place for those tasks in the book.

It is a possibility that Crouch was a Slytherin and fought the Dark Arts only because he wanted to gain power in the ministry just like Merlin who fought for Muggle rights despite being a Slytherin. Crouch was power hungry and ambitious, he was the type of person who is most likely to be sorted in Slytherin.

Appearances

Notes and references

↑As one must be of age (seventeen years old) to be working at the Ministry, and he presided over the Death Eater trials in 1981.

↑As fourth-years have Transfiguration on Thursdays, and earlier that day Harry got held back in Transfiguration, that day was a Thursday. According to that same chapter, it was in the last week of May. If this is correct, it happened on a Thursday in the last week of May. According to this calender produced by the Harry Potter Lexicon, that day was the 22nd. See this page for source on the year.